Battle of the Sexes
by Merry Muppet
Summary: [Game.OT] Danni, a stubborn tomboy of a Pokemon trainer, has a secret dream: to win the master rank of every Pokemon Contest. With her new Dragonair, she tries to secretly participate right under the nose of her best friend. [Rated for minor language]
1. Introduction

Where I come from, everyone, young and old, wants to be a Pokémon master. I am no exception to this rule. However, recently, our region has been introduced to something called Pokémon Contests. Now every girl and flamboyant boy wants to be a special trainer, one television calls a "coordinator". As soon as I heard about a contest hall opening in my hometown, I let out a huge sigh. Contests are for sissies. Nowadays new trainers are pretty much gender segregated. The girls want to be coordinators and the boys want to be trainers. This pisses me off in many ways.

Wasn't the twentieth century all about gender equality? Now girls can only do frilly displays while boys get to do masculine fights? It's just wrong.

But I have a secret.

In spite of these beliefs, I really do want to be a coordinator. Don't get me wrong, I do not want to give up on my training. I am first and foremost a Pokémon Trainer. I also have plans to breed Pokémon when I grow older. I just love Pokémon. Everyone sees me as this tomboy who runs around in the mud with her Quilava, and I like it that way. If anyone found out about my coordinator dreams, I would be ruined.


	2. Gaining Dragonair

Before I get into my new dreams, I believe I should first address my background. Born and raised in Blackthorn City, I have always had a passion for dragon Pokémon. When I was little I would sneak past the old men guarding the Clan's sacred dragon's den just to look at the Dratinis and Dragonairs. Over time I gained the friendship of one female Dratini, one I came to call "DraggyWaggy". What can I say? I was eight.

I also came to look up to members of the Clan. Sometimes while riding my bike outside, I would come across Clair, the city's gym leader. Every ounce of self control that I possessed was put into making sure I did not stare or take too loud of a gasp. I came to respect Clair in the way old Christians respected God: I feared her. On the occasion I did not suppress my amazement enough, she would give me the iciest glare I had ever seen in my life. Once she muttered very rude things about stupid children and after that I came to look at the ground whenever she passed. She seemed satisfied at that.

A few times in my young life I also stumbled upon Lance. He wasn't in town much; he was often busy with his job at the Indigo Plateau. When he did get out of work, he was spotted across the region acting as a sort of hero against the evil Team Rocket. As you can imagine, a man as busy as this could hardly find time to visit his hometown. But he did sometimes and when he did, I was amazed. I was even more amazed by him than Clair. And he was nicer than Clair. . . Though he had the same Elitist complex. I suppose his title got to his head. I don't know what explains Clair, though.

I remember when I first truly met Lance. I was almost ten years old and taking a break from my Pokémon studies by playing outside with my friend Nick. Nick and I were in our little bathing suits getting ready to jump into the small lake that stood between Clair's gym and the Den. I was giggling and telling him all about the cute Dratinis and beautiful Dragonairs. I gushed about my friend DraggyWaggy and how I would find a way to use her as my starter. He didn't seem to care much about all of that. He was just into doing something new for once.

When we dismounted our Noodle floaties at the den's entrance, we heard a very frightening sound: the sound of footsteps. "Oh, crud," I squeaked. "Hurry Nick, we're gonna get caught!"

We started to run towards a large rock but we were too late. The maker of the steps came to a halt at the cave's entrance. I took in a huge breath when I saw who it was. "Nick, Nick, look!" I whispered. "It's Lance of the Elite Four!"

"Who?" Nick said in a normal speaking voice. I groaned under my breath but it was too late. Lance turned towards the source of the noise and smirked.

"Uh. . . Uh. . ." I racked my mind for an excuse for our presence. "Mr. Lance, uh, sir. . . We were just swimming and got kinda. . . uh. . . lost. We had no idea we were at the Dragon's Den. Your family's Dragon Den. I'm. . . I'm sorry, sir." I dropped my gaze to my muddy feet, something Clair would have appreciated.

Unfortunately, Lance did not appreciate it quite as much. "Look at me," he said. I slowly raised my gaze, grimacing every second. But he was smiling. "I know that you're lying," he said kindly. "I've seen you a few times before. From what I've seen, you sneak into our Den all of the time."

I gulped. If Lance had spotted me on his visits, how often was I caught by Clair and the Elder while he was away? He could see the fear in my eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, I don't think anyone else has spotted you. And I promise I won't tell anyone that you two were here. "

"You. . . You're giving us permission to go in?" I asked, amazed.

"Yes. I don't see why everyone discourages an interest in Dragon Pokémon. Every Pokémon is accounted for in the Den and you visit quite often. The way I see it, you're not doing any harm. You're only realizing that dragons are the superior type."

I nodded with my mouth agape. Nick snorted. "What about bugs?"

Lance raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Go along before someone else sees you. I'm in a hurry now. I just received a call about a rampaging Pokémon in the Lake of Rage." He gave us a wave, released his magnificent Dragonite from his Pokeball, and flew away.

That was the day my infatuation truly began.

My dreams of using DraggyWaggy as my starter went unrealized. Like every Johto kid, I had a choice between Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita. I chose Cyndaquil.

The majority of the next few years was spent travelling around with Nick from region to region, collecting badges. When I was fourteen I decided to head back home, at least for the time being. I had a mission: find DraggyWaggy.It was during this time that I found out about Johto Contests. But I'll get into that later.

Unfortunately, a teenager has more difficulty sneaking around than a ten year old does. I was quickly caught by the clan's elder."You!" he growled. "You're that little girl who always snuck in!"

I felt my cheeks turn bright red. So Lance _wasn't_ the only one to catch me.

"Why, you're. . . You're Danni. I ought to tell your mother about your mischief!"

I blushed some more and looked down at my feet. "I'm so sorry, sir. You're right. I was a terrible kid. But when I snuck around back then. . . . I fell in love with a little Dratini. I know it's against policies for anyone outside of the family to take a Pokémon but. . ."

"No."

"Please, sir. I'm not a poacher. I'm not from Team Rocket. I love Pokémon more than anything in this world. And the Dratini loves me."

He raised his bushy eyebrows. "Show me."

"Wh-what?"

"Show me how this Dratini loves you."

"You mean. . . Find her?"

"Yes."

I gulped, wondering if it was a trap. But ambition took my mind and I slowly wandered into the cave. He walked mere steps behind me, something intimidating, to say the least. There were many Magikarp in the water, but very few Dratini. I sighed and trekked even farther in. "DraggyWaggy!" I called, hands cupped over my mouth.

Silence.

"DraaagggyyyyWagggyyyyy!"

More silence. The old man was growing impatient.A couple of baby Dratinis popped their heads out of the water in curiosity. Neither of them were DraggyWaggy. A distinctive feature which helped me to identify my friend was a slight deformity in the ear-wings. Both Dratinis were relatively normal looking, although one had a purplish hue. I squatted down next to them and they squeaked in intimidation. I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. Do you two know of a Dratini like yourselves with a deformed wing?"

They both shook their heads to the best of their abilities then dove down underwater. Bubbles started to gather at the surface and then, to my great surprise, a myriad of Dratini and Dragonair popped up out of the water. I recognized a grayish Dragonair as being the group's leader, something similar to the elder I was touring with. The Dragonair swam up to me and sniffed my ankles. I giggled and it smiled. "Oh thank God," I muttered. The Dragonair pointed its head to a very young Dragonair resting by the shrine. I blinked questioningly.

"I believe it wants you to go over to the other Dragonair," the elder said bitterly.

I nodded and started to remove my shoes to swim over but the elder Dragonair shook its head and nudged me with its nose. "You want me to ride you across?" It nodded. "Alright," I said nervously, mounting my steed. Immediately after reaching shore I leapt off of the elder and sprinted to the lonely Dragonair. It looked up at me and squirmed away in fear.

"No, this mustn't be her. . ." I started. Then something caught my eye. A tear in the wings. ". . . . DraggyWaggy?" I said quietly.

The Dragonair slowly approached me and sniffed at my ankles, much like the elder. It apparently remembered me for it leapt into the air and hovered up in delight. "I missed you so much!" I squealed. I started to stroke it behind the wings when the clan elder sighed.

DraggyWaggy crept out of my grasp and wrapped herself around my ankles. I giggled."I suppose it really does love you. . . " the elder muttered grumpily. I bit my lip anxiously. "If Clair finds out about this, she'll be furious."

DraggyWaggy nudged a Pokeball out of my belt and leapt inside happily. I grinned. "Thank you, sir!"

"Don't make a habit of it," was all he said before finding the exit on his own, leaving me and my new Pokémon to enjoy our reunion.


	3. Contests in Johto?

I was in extremely high spirits as I headed home. There was a skip to my step and a song in my voice. I couldn't remember being this happy in my entire life. I threw open my front door and squealed, "Mom! I just caught a Dragonair! . . . Sort of," I muttered under my breath.

A familiar male face turned around from the kitchen table to smile at me. "DraggyWaggy, right?" Nick asked. I nodded excitedly and released her from my Pokeball. Mom set down the plate of quesadillas she had been holding and walked towards me in awe.

DraggyWaggy shied away from her and tried to hide behind me. I giggled nervously and shook my head at my mother. "Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered. "I must have scared it. Aren't these creatures extremely rare?"

I nodded, kneeling to stroke my friend behind the wings. "Yep," I said proudly. "It's a shame they're not more common. They're so freaking pretty. . ."

"Danni," my mom said warningly at my "language". I merely rolled my eyes and continued to scratch.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Nick distractedly.

He shrugged. "Your mom invited me to dinner. She said she wanted to catch up with us on everything from the past few years."

I glanced at my pouting mother guiltily. It was true that I hadn't visited much, besides to refuel for visiting new regions. When I would visit, we would exchange basic conversations ("How have you been?" "Great." "Have you had enough food?" "Plenty." "Did you catch anything?" "Oh, yes. A Jigglypuff." "Have you been doing your schoolwork?" "Of course, Mom, of course. I'm managing A's as I gain badges. . ." "Oh. Good, good."), but not much. When I told Mom that I was visiting for an extended period, she nearly died of happiness.

"So, Danni, are you thinking about using your new Pokémon in the Pokémon Contest?" Nick asked, grabbing for a slice of quesadilla.

"Contest? Nick, Johto doesn't have contests," I said with a little laugh.Nick shook his head and took a bite out of the quesadilla. I watched him chew and realized just how hungry I was, so I sat down at the table with the two of them. DraggyWaggy slithered over by my heels and nestled in the soft carpet. When Nick was done chewing, he grinned. "Actually, Johto is just starting its own contest league. And one of the halls will be right here, in Blackthorn."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, great. Just what we need, Johto kids growing up in gender segregation."

"Danni. . . " Nick started.

"No, I will not shut up. It's ridiculous! It's as if females can't be trainers anymore! I will not stand for it," I nodded curtly and took a bite out of the quesadilla, letting the grease and spices fill my mouth. Ah, if there's one thing I missed about home, it was the constant Easy Food. Nothing the Pokémon Centers served could beat good, old fashioned, microwavable junk.

"Forget that crap," Nick muttered. My mom gave him a quick glare, but he too ignored it. "I think you should try contests, maybe just one, just to see what it's like. You can't just diss something without giving it a chance. Besides, Dragonair would kick a—butt at the appeals."

I glared at him and continued to eat my quesadilla, but inside, his words churned through my brain. I imagined DraggyWaggy appealing with outstanding attacks: outrage, dragon rage, dragon dance. . . Anything unique, anything cool. The crowd went wild; the judges looked satisfied as they marked their numbers. At the end of the contest, DraggyWaggy was issued a master rank cool ribbon. It was an amazing day dream. It made coordinating seem almost as awesome as real battles.

I nearly slapped myself for thinking such things. Nobody seemed to notice that I was acting strangely though, so I continued to eat my quesadilla. But I was hatching a plan. . .


End file.
